I love neckcranks.And from many positions.And I find often that getting them on thicks necks is just as easy.Some people just don't like to tap to them, then they blame me.But it's on them.I've never complained about getting neckcranked.Sure I don't advocating powering it on a weaker guy, same as I don't a paintbrush or sidechoke.But in my mind a neckcrank requires pretty sophisticated technique sometimes.You really gotta understand the angle of the crank and immobilize the opponant.
Yeah, they injure people.Same as with triangles kimura's and kneebars.
I'm not sure I understand why they'd be as good for self-defense as a chokehold would though.Necks are hard to break.And a woman cranking an attackers neck enough to cause alot of pain then simply letting go doesn;t seem as smart as choking him out.

One time, and only one time was I cranked when I had the mount. The person had about 40 lbs on me, and I was in their guard. They sat up and got a guillotine, but I managed to pass with their arms still being wrapped around my neck. From the side I didn't break their arms off, just went into mount. With their size advantage and my little skill at the time they were able to hold on with their arms. I could've probably broken their grip, but it was just very uncomfortable because they kept shrimping with my neck clasped tightly. I tapped out of annoyance and fear from being pretty new at the time. I let the guy know this and he agreed that I really did have him beat, but he was just much stronger than me. I am a bit ashamed of this, but never got caught in anything that stupid again.

I don't understand how someone could reach up and neck crank though if you have the mount already.

I got cranked badly once when a purple belt was trying to arm triangle me. The leverage was a bit off, and instead of choking, he got a crank. The problem with cranks is that they are uncomfortable when they're being done, but hurt like hell afterwards. I didn't tap for 3 seconds because it didn't really hurt. When he released, I couldn't lift my head off the mat. My neck was stiff for 3 days afterwards.

The problem isn't exactly in the fact that I got cranked while holding mount. We were drilling a defense against GnP where the person on the bottom bridges straight up, and the person on top miraculously rolls over their head and off. I was demonstrating why this does not actually work, so I kept posting and then sitting up and resuming punching. So he got annoyed, I guess, and just reached up, grabbed my head (with an arm trapped in there too) and just cranked. I was more surprised than anything else, but it still hurt a lot and I tapped. If it were plain free-grappling, yeah, I would have done things differently, but as it was, I wasn't really expecting to have to counter anything like that. Who tries for a sub from UNDER mount?

In terms of free grappling, I've never been tapped by a neck crank. That's not my issue. They just hurt like a bitch for days afterward and are potentially dangerous. Some big guys I roll with, especially if they have wrestled, will just grab on from any position and start cranking. I hate that. I can't get my arms up to break his grip, and I'm basically immobilized, so I just have to sit there and suffer through it, and then feel it for days. It's really annoying.

However: I'll try to stop sucking so much. Thanks for such amazing and useful advice!